Flying high for young Charlie

Organisers Kerry Maycroft, Lorraine Hinton and Susan Hobbs at the event. Picture by Rob George

ALMOST 100 caring Spa residents young and old gathered at the Railway Inn on Monday (November 19) for a balloon-release in honour of a brave Worcestershire toddler.

Mums, dads, toddlers and kind-hearted Droitwich residents packed into the rear of the pub close to the marina for the event to raise cash and awareness of the Cords 4 Life charity.

The charity has been established by the parents of Charlie Beard-Harris, the two-year-old who has spent much of his young life battling acute myeloid leukaemia.

The brave little boy, whose grandparents live in Droitwich, underwent chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with leukaemia soon after his birth, but it failed to

kill the cancer.

Following a world-wide search for a bone marrow donor, Charlie underwent chemotherapy last October but his parents Fiona and Joe have now been told his cancer has returned and he may only have a few months to live.

But the devastating blow has not dampened the resolve of fund-raisers and organisers Kerry Maycroft, Lorraine Hinton and Susan Hobbs put together Monday’s event in the space of 72 hours.

As well as the balloon release, residents were invited to make donations to the charity and try a tasty cupcake.

Kerry told The Standard: “It’s been really good, I did not expect so many people to turn up especially so early because many were here at 11am and the balloon release wasn’t until 12midday.”

“It’s been hard work for all of us but we have had people pulling together all over the place, the cakes, balloons and table were all donated.

“It was lovely to see Charlie’s grandparents here because they live close by and it’s just been really, really good,” she added.

The kind-hearted trio said they had already raised more than £400 for the charity and said the fund-raising would continue in the coming weeks.

“We just want to thank everybody for pulling together, they have been brilliant and shown what can be done as a town and we just want to say thank everyone for their support,”Kerry added.

And Charlie's special week continued when he was best man at the wedding of his parents on Tuesday (November 21) while he met Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere before the Gunners game with Aston Villa on Saturday (November 24)

Visit www.facebook.com/Cords4Life or follow @cordsforlife on Twitter to find out more about the charity.

More than 100 people turned up to support the event. Picture by Rob George